Marshall Williams grew up in the Dunean Mills community, and he remembers selling dogwoods door-to-door for the Dunean Mothers Club.

“When I was a little boy, they sold dogwoods for 10 cents,” Williams says. “They asked everybody to put a pink and a white one in their yard. Just about every house had a pink and a white dogwood. ... I walked these streets selling those little dogwoods.”

Many of those dogwoods still line the streets, the Dunean Mothers Club’s beautification project living on after six decades.

Beth Roddy’s connection was forged a little more recently, when her husband, Charles, a Dunean native, suggested they buy a home there 34 years ago.

But regardless of their introduction to Dunean, the two have a shared interest in the community’s history, and its future.

In 2005, Williams and Roddy co-founded the Dunean Historical Society. Since then, a new park has been created adjacent to the Dunean Baptist and United Methodist churches, complete with prayer labyrinth, granite marker commemorating highlights of Dunean’s past, and a Memory Walk where residents can purchase bricks in honor or memory of loved ones.

In 2008, the park became the new home for a monument commemorating Dunean’s 13 World War II casualties.

And earlier this month came the newest addition: the Dunean Community Vegetable Garden, dedicated June 1. The garden, maintained by churches and individuals, came about through donations of seeds, timber to construct the raised beds, and labor to build them.

“It was developed as a way to build relationships, connect on a learning level ... working together and having fun,” says Roddy, who is also a master gardener. “It promotes being outside, being active, healthy foods, healthy lifestyle and just social interaction.”

Herbs, vegetables, even blueberries are growing in the pots and raised beds, and Roddy and Williams have already sampled the bounty. Some of the veggies went into a soup served at a recent historical society meeting, says Williams, who is pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Mills Mill.

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A portion of the produce also will help stock the monthly food pantry operated by Dunean United Methodist Church, says Roddy, a nurse who works as a utilization management coordinator for St. Francis Home Care.

That sense of community has long been a hallmark of Dunean. “There was a real pride in where we lived,” says Williams, the author of “Dunean: I Love My Heritage ... God, Family, Country, and Dunean Dynamos,” a compilation of historical photographs, anecdotes and memorabilia from the mill village’s heyday.

Roddy doesn’t have the same treasure trove of memories as Williams, since she moved to Dunean as an adult, but she still has a deep appreciation for the people and places, and what they meant to Greenville’s development.

Her late father-in-law, whose nickname was Mush, helped foster her love for the community. “He was just a character, one of those men who could remember all those stories from long ago, and he was always eager to share the stories,” Roddy says.

The Dunean Historical Society has long been focused on community activities. There have been hot dog suppers, Memorial Day events, a tour of homes, and the annual Christmas tree lighting followed by a progressive supper.

A small amphitheater is next on the wish list for the community park.

But soon, the park will be the host garden for the Community Garden Music Series, sponsored by Gardening for Good. The concert will take place in the fall, and the Greenville Textile Heritage Society Band is tentatively scheduled to perform, Roddy says.

Until then, however, the fruits, and vegetables, of their labor are evident in the profusion of greenery in the garden.

While Roddy is a master gardener, she didn’t have much experience with growing vegetables. But despite the predictions that the first year wouldn’t yield much, Roddy has been thrilled to see the results of their hard work.